The Girl Called Disaster
by Maleday
Summary: Cho Chang is not really the heartbroken girl people perceive. Not anymore. After spending the summer in Taiwan learning ancient Chinese magic from her ancestors, she's given a new name, a new weapon, and a new purpose. This story follows canon.
1. Chapter 1

The Girl Called Disaster

**Chapter 1 Talk Don't Cook Rice**

"_Hey, beautiful._" _Cedric_'_s_ _greeting came_ _from behind in a singsong voice. Cho felt her hair swish over her shoulder in her eager rush to spot him. Quicker than her, Cedric ducked around to_ _her other side_ _and grabbed her hand, twirling_ _her into him_ _before she could catch a glimpse of him. _

"_Hey!" she laughed, her back pressed tight against his chest. His strong arms squeezed around her, holding her tight, swaying her from side to side. She tilted her head back, trying to see his face, but couldn't_ _quite_ _reach_…

"_How was your summer?" he asked, right in her ear. She grinned_ _at his joke. He knew exactly how her summer was. They had seen each other every day. _

"_The best ever," she whispered back, though he probably couldn't hear her over the rush of people surrounding them. _

"_Ready to go?" he asked, giving another squeeze before letting her go. She quickly snatched back_ _his hand. _

"_Not really, but you're coming with me, right?"_ _she said,_ _not understanding her own panic. The summer wasn't supposed to end this_ _soon. _

"_Of course. I'll go through with you. I know how nervous this_ _makes you._ _Though I still think it's a completely irrational_ _fear._"

_Cho could feel the smile behind his words, but the sun was too bright to distinguish where his mouth was. She couldn't even see his eyes. _

"_No,_" _she muttered back, "projecting your body into a solid wall is irrational," she said. Clenching a bit harder on his hand, she looked up at the unassuming gateway to the Hogwarts Express. _

"_You'll be fine. I'm right here," he reassured her. She frowned up at him, disconcerted by the sun still blocking_ _his face. _

"_Ready?" he asked. She nodded. _

"_On the count of three. One." _

_She really wished she could see him. How could she have forgot_ _what he looks like in one day?_ _And why did the sun choose the last day of summer to finally show itself? _

"_Two, Three."_ _He raced ahead, pulling her along. The wind rushed through her hair and she almost felt safe before she saw the wall. Centimeters from her face._

* * *

Cho forced open her eyes and glared through the rain at the wall in front of her with cold, calculating eyes. Brick is the most unfriendly material. It is cold, hard, rough, red like dried blood, and completely Muggle.

Platform 9 ¾ was the biggest paradox of the Wizarding world. "Welcome to your magical school of Witchcraft and Wizardry! It's marvelous! Oh, but first you have to crash through a brick wall in the middle of a Muggle train station," Cho scoffed internally. It's the perfect example of how the Wizarding world needlessly entangles itself with the non-magical world.

Cho had to admire the Muggles' creativity and work ethic. Who else would come up with the idea of making millions of square slabs and working tirelessly to stack them together? Muggles reminded her of ants sometimes. At least no witch or wizard would lay brick when they could transfigure marble out of sand.

Cho grimaced, watching another 11-year-old puff up his chest, squeeze his eyes closed, and run head first at the wall.

Year after year Cho's reluctance to run at the wall had been the embarrassment of her parents. She would hang back nervously, her parents shaking their heads and giving her impatient pushes forward. They'd point at all the first years who did it, as if that were any encouragement.

"Look, Cho, that tiny boy just did it! You are a fifth year! Go!" her father had told her last year.

Last year. As she was rescued from the Black Lake and tucked safely in the powerful arms of Cedric, she had seen a vision of what this year would be like. He would meet her at the platform, take her by the hand, and lead her confidently through the wall.

Now, it was nothing but a fantasy. _Cedric's dead, _she told herself harshly. The familiar chill didn't dare to trickle down her spine. It didn't matter. This time would still be different, because _she _is different. She didn't need him. She didn't need anyone.

She sensed her father's eyes on her closely watching her every move as though inspecting her for familiar signs of weakness. Cho met his eyes and he looked away quickly. Ever since she returned yesterday, her parents didn't know how to act around her. They almost cowered away from her now.

She handed the umbrella to her mother and without a second thought, she took five swift strides and slipped into the wall before a drop of rain could touch her.

Cho shaded her eyes from the new sunlight and all the shiny magical surfaces. Within seconds her mother appeared in front of her, straightening Cho's robes as if she were still her first year self. To her right, her father's voice murmured in her ear in rapid Chinese.

"Don't look now, but the Malfoy boy is boarding the train. The Dark Lord has his eye on him too, but only because his father is a Death Eater. His family calls themselves purebloods, but can only trace back five centuries. They don't know the true meaning of bloodlines."

"Shh," Mrs. Chang hissed at her husband before saying one of her favorite Chinese proverbs for shutting people up, "Talk don't cook rice!"

Cho's father shrugged at his wife but obediently stopped his rant and loaded Cho's trunk onto the train. There was no reason for Cho to look anyway, she knew who Malfoy was. She had to smile at the thought of her father feeling threatened by the fifth-year snob.

Her mother cupped her hands over her face and gave her a teary-eyed smile.

"Cho, you are strong. You have the strength of our ancestors now. I am proud of you," her mother said in a tight voice. Cho's head tilted to the side as she tried to accept the once familiar name. She knew it had only been two months, but it seemed like she'd been called Disaster for her whole existence, and now anything else felt wrong.

It was a cruel, inventive name, designed to remake her. Shifu had given it to her on her first day, mocking the Cedric fiasco. According to most Chinese legends, the woman always has something to do with the disasters that befall their lovers. Whether it's their power of seduction or their power of magic, the Chinese girl can was always blamed. Cho was the girl called Disaster, meaning Cedric's disaster, and at first it broke her, just as it promised.

Now she _was _Disaster.

Cho felt a tingle of power in her stomach as her mother reached out and fingered the jade pendent around her neck. She quickly stepped back, yanking it out of her mother's reach. Mrs. Chang looked away guiltily, her eyes watering. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, then quickly closed it, no doubt remembering her own proverb.

"Ma-,"Cho started before her mother quickly swiped away any tears and trace of sorrow.

Cho's mother gave her a quick hug as the first train whistle blew. Cho leapt at the opportunity to take her leave, eager to get out from under the scrutiny of her parents. They're nervousness and quiet assessment of her was quickly becoming tiresome to watch.

"Bye, ma, ba," Cho said, nodding stoically at each of them. Their expressions showed an anxious concern that she couldn't quite place. Whether fear for her safety or for success at her task, she didn't know. Either way, they were wrong to fear.

She shrugged her bag further onto her shoulder and stepped onto the train. An owl swooped over her head, splashing her with feathers and was quickly followed by a stream of screaming first years. Brushing herself off, she glanced back out the window at her parents. They were staring back, unperturbed, at a hostile glare from Lucius Malfoy. His look was black and disdainful, but Cho could pick out the disturbance behind his eyes. He felt threatened. Good.

Smiling to herself at the parental stare-off, she continued down the main corridor searching for the familiar Ravenclaw compartment. She recognized it by the giggling sounds reaching her, but didn't recognize her own reaction. The idea of sitting through the entire train ride not only having to listen, but also to contribute to the noise had her groaning in irritation. Only two months before she had been so homesick for a good laugh with her friends. Now she just wished for a moment alone.

Peeking through the compartment window, she picked out Marietta Edgecombe, Isobel McDougal and Cora Quirke all settled in and red faced with excitement. The moment Marietta saw Cho through the window, her face lit up even further.

What used to warm Cho's heart now only made her stomach churn in nagging dread. Cho did all she could to give her best grin back. It was just muscle memory, after all. Nothing to it.

Bracing herself, she flung open the door to a chorus of squealing.

"Cho-sey!" Marietta called, lunging at her and pulling her down into the seat.

"I've missed you so much! How was your summer? Your mum said you went to Taiwan to visit family! How cool was that?! Sorry I couldn't write! My owl-"

Cho zoned her out, shuddering at her mother's version of a family reunion. That is what her mother had told her, too, before the portkey spun her away to the highest mountain in Taiwan to camp out with a group of witches and wizards whose only thing in common were ancient ancestors. She couldn't have been worse prepared if she had never touched a wand in her life.

The thought of herself on her first day made her cringe in embarrassment. She had spent most of the day with tears streaming down her face while Shifu yelled insults and ordered her around in bellowed Chinese, using her new name.

"Cho…? Helloooo?" Cho's eyes focused back in on a hand that slowly waved in front of her face. She blinked and looked up at Isobel who smirked across from her.

"You spaced out there! We were asking about your summer?" said Isobel, stifling her giggling with the back of her hand. Cho resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, it was lovely," she answered, "Taiwan is a beautiful place." The girls made identical looks of dissatisfaction.

"Did you meet anyone interesting?" Marietta asked, nudging her and wriggling her eyebrows. Cho had to smile at that. She pictured Shifu with his long gray pony tail and rose-tinted sunglasses. Every one of the twelve people on the mountain would have "interested" these girls as much as Luna Lovegood.

"Not really, no." The girls squealed, obviously taking her delayed answer and mysterious smile to mean the exact opposite. She quickly scrambled for some gossip to change the subject.

"So, who's been assigned prefect?" she asked.

"Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein," came Marietta's swift reply. Cho was relieved at how easy she was to distract. Marietta could be a great asset this year.

"Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were chosen for Slytherin and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger for Gryffindor. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot are Hufflepuff's. They so should have chosen Zacharias though, right?!"

"Ew, no!" Cora yelped, "Don't you remember our third year Quidditch game against Hufflepuff?" Identical groans were followed by various head slaps. "Exactly!"

The train finally started moving and Cho was tempted to just look out the window and forget her friends. She did her best to be engaged in the following debate over which fifth years should have been chosen for prefects. Then the speculation of potential prefect couples. Then who is expected to make the Quidditch teams. Then the best Quidditch couples.

And then, Cho lost track of the conversation until it drifted to… last year.

Cho stood up.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she said, ignoring the classic "oops" looks her friends showed. If there was anything she wouldn't be able to handle this year, it would be those apologetic stares.

Once in the corridor, she leaned against the cool glass of the window, relishing in the fresher air. She breathed against the glass causing a circle of fog to appear. Taking her index finger, she delicately drew the characters for disaster. 惨剧. Tsan-ju.

Cho rested her forehead against the glass and watched the landscape pass by through the strokes in her name. With the mystical island mountains of Taiwan still in her mind's eye, England appeared flat and as dull as the gray clouds that shadowed the sky. It looked like rain again.

Hearing footsteps approach, she quickly swiped the glass, making the word disappear. She looked purposefully out the window as the people approached, hoping they'd take no notice of her.

The footsteps stopped right in front of her with cold deliberateness. Draco Malfoy's reflection hovered in the window, blocking her of her view outside. His prefect badge was pinned squarely over his chest, which he seemed to puff out proudly. Grudgingly, she met his gaze in the window. Even reflected, the anger in his eyes was scorching, almost causing her to lose composure.

Cho forced back any sign of surprise or even recognition. As Shifu had told her, it is better to show nothing at all. You have more control. She double checked her expression in the window to make sure it was as statuesque as the one he had taught her.

She waited for a greeting for a second longer than normal before turning around unwillingly. She looked up impassively at Malfoy's harsh sneer. Pansy Parkinson stood at his side, latched onto his elbow, and was looking her up and down with calculating curiously.

"Whatever you're plotting, Ravenclaw, don't try it," he said with disgust after five long seconds of silence, "I'll make sure you don't succeed." He stared hard at Cho's unmoving face as though searching for any sign of weakness. The longer he looked, the more obvious it was that he was losing. Cho quickly schooled the smirk threatening to crack her stone expression, but almost lost it again when Pansy let out a little yelp of laughter.

"Yeah, because we're prefects, so even you sixth years better watch your backs," Pansy half chanted. She shifted nervously as soon as Cho's eyes landed on hers.

"Come on, Draco. This one is too _heartbroken_ to cause trouble," she said nastily, tugging on Malfoy's arm. Cho's lips twitched and her eyes flashed. Malfoy noticeably relaxed at the sign that she was still human. He took a single step forward, brushing past Cho roughly before turning his head back over his shoulder. "Of course. Your _ghost_ filled past will not do you any _favors_," Malfoy said in a low, emphatic voice.

The implication hit Cho hard in her stomach. _How could he have found out so soon? _Her head reeled dizzily, overwhelmed by the hatred pouring off of Malfoy.

Instinctively, her hand grasped around her pendant.

"Yeah, Sob Story," Pansy called back as they walked away, "We'll be waiting for your mental breakdown."

"My name is Disaster," Cho announced softly to the air in front of her. Whatever fear Malfoy had triggered in her with his enigmatic taunt now turned ice cold within her.

Fine, if Malfoy was ready to start the game, Cho could play. She spun on her heel and marched off in the opposite direction. She knew exactly which compartment was Potter's. Everyone knew since his first year when everyone was up in arms about _The-Boy-Who-Lived_ being on the Hogwarts Express.

That title took on a whole new meaning now. The-Boy-Who-Lived, not the one that died.

Almost in front of the door, she smoothed out her hair and her robes and practiced a few timid-looking smiles before taking another step and sliding it open slowly.

A waft of putrid smelling air blew towards her and she almost stumbled backwards. She blinked rapidly, trying to see through the smell as her eyes watered. The compartment was covered in a green slime, including Potter, who was looking at her with horror.

"Oh… hello… Harry," she said, trying not to breathe in too much of the air, "Um… bad time?" If she had just waited five more seconds, they could have used _scourgify_ and nothing awkward would be happening. _Five seconds!_

Potter took off his glasses and wiped them off on his robe, then stuck them back on only to stare up at her again. He appeared even more horrified at the confirmation that it really was her.

"Oh… hi," he fumbled dejectedly. She waited for him to say something else, some socially acceptable explanation for the slime, maybe, but he didn't. He just gaped at her stupidly, obviously wishing her far, far away.

"Um… Well… just thought I'd say hello… 'bye then."

Cho battled her urge to slam the door shut and kick it again for good measure. _Five seconds later_ and it would have been _fine_! The ancestors were not on her side today.


	2. Chapter 2

Entice the Tiger from the Mountain

_Silhouetted against the rising sun and holding the Crouching Tiger pose, Shifu looked positively menacing. He was crouched low, balanced on one leg, the other held up parallel with the ground. One arm looked as though he were cradling a child, the other was held out protectively. _

_Cho did her best to mimic the Taichi stance until she felt her arms and legs trembling. Beside her, Dao_ _Mei released the pose,_ _falling down_ _exhausted. The others were wavering too. When Shifu_ _finally brought his arms down and relaxed his position, he looked directly at Cho_ _and motioned with his hand. _

"_Tsanju, follow me,"_ _he commanded as he walked swiftly towards the mountain path and out of sight. Cho wiped the sweat off of her brow, glanced nervously at Dao_ _Mei who gave her a quick shrug, and raced after_ _her master. When she caught up to him, he did not turn around but continued on in silence. _

_The mountain path was narrow and treacherous, filled with rocks and roots and bordered with nothing but air and a long view down. Shifu strode with grace and agile poise, not even needing to watch his feet. Cho remembered the time when she had been so paralyzed with fear, she could hardly scoot one foot in front of the other. Now, though still with her eyes glued to the ground, she could actually keep up with_ _him. _

_Eventually, she would be able to look up also,_ _and watch the sky as the sun rises. _

_They walked for hours it seemed, before Shifu chose a path Cho had never seen before._ _His pace slowed dramatically and his stance shrunk down, as though not wanting to be seen. Cho looked_ _around for a sign of a threat, while immediately imitating his movements._

"_Do you know how long you've been here, Tsanju?" Shifu spoke suddenly, stopping in his tracks and causing her to almost crash into him. She caught her balance just before he turned to look at her. _

"_No, Shifu, I don't remember," Cho answered. She scanned quickly through past memories, searching for a clue. _

"_Two_ _months," Shifu_ _informed her._ _Cho's eyes widened and her mouth when slack._ _It had_ _to be longer than that! _

_Shifu watched her with an expression she had never seen on his face before. It wasn't anger or disappointment, but it wasn't pride or approval either. _

"_Which means," he continued, after she did not respond, "that your school is starting." What, her old school way back in England? Did he mean Hogwarts? What did Hogwarts have to do with anything? _

"_You have to go back, that_ _was the plan,_ _you know that," Shifu said calmly. _

"_I'm not ready,"_ _she replied quickly, before the panic could overcome her. _

_Cho didn't want to even think about returning. She could barely remember her old life, let alone_ _face it. Not after all she _became _here. Wouldn't she lose that if she went back? She looked away from Shifu, hoping he would forget it and bring her back to the camp. _

"_No, you're not," Shifu agreed, "But you have the jade pendent which the ancestors will lead you by." _

_Colors shifted from the corner of her eye and Cho whirled around to look_ _back at_ _the path. Everything was moving and changing. The ground became_ _flat and smooth. The woods grew thick around her, almost boxing her in. She ducked_ _under her arms as the sky seemed to fall down on her, slamming to a stop just meters above her head. _

"_What's happening?!" she yelled, looking back at Shifu. _

_Regret. His expression_ _was regret. _

_The grass under her feet turned into a stone floor, the trees into walls. _

_She wanted to shout_ _at the top of her lungs_ _at Shifu as he_ _raised up his hand in a parting gesture, then turned and walked out of the room through the only part of the wall that was still shining with light from the Taiwan mountain._ _Why had he looked so _sorry_? _

_Cho's mind swam and she crashed to her hands and knees on the stone_ _floor._

* * *

Hogwarts looked the same as it always had, but Cho could sense fear everywhere inside the Great Hall. She could taste it in every bite she took as she and her friends completed their customary sampling of every food item on the table.

Now that they were done eating, no one was simply sitting still and laughing like they used to. They were fidgeting, their eyes darting around the hall, mostly in Potter's direction, but sometimes at the empty spot at the Hufflepuff table. They all had last year's question on their minds.

Everyone talking about it at the Ravenclaw table kept their voices hushed, shooting her occasional glances to make sure she didn't overhear. _How thick did they think she was?_ Her friends danced lightly around the topic, choosing to opt instead for small talk. They'd already exhausted the discussion on the menu, the decorations, the new professors, classes, OWLs scores, and the boys in their near (and far) vicinity. Now they were just sitting in awkward silence, straining to hear the more interesting conversations.

Cho couldn't possibly roll her eyes further back into her head in annoyance at her friends' behavior. She wished she could just shout "I'm over it!" and yank the tablecloth out from the table causing everything on it to fly high in the air before shattering to pieces on their heads.

She knew the role she had to play, but the image still calmed her considerably. To remain a "hidden dragon" at Hogwarts, she had to be her last year's self: sensitive and, she hated to admit it, heartbroken. True to her character, she delicately tucked her hair behind her ear and turned towards Cora.

"That's so great that your sister got into Ravenclaw! What's your name again, cutie?" Cho said sweetly, smiling at the bug-eyed girl squashed between Cora and Isobel.

"Orla Quirke," the girl said with a laugh that matched her older sister's perfectly. Cho imagined Rowena Ravenclaw's reaction and grimaced. What was the saggy hat thinking? Hufflepuff is the house for gigglers. Was this its pathetic attempt at creating inter-house unity?

"Hi, Orla, I'm Cho. Welcome to Ravenclaw!" Cho watched Orla nod enthusiastically before her eyes widened further at the sound of Dumbledore's voice.

At the familiar sound, the students all around the hall visibly relaxed. Cho closed her eyes, relishing in the new calm spreading around the room. Dumbledore's voice weaved up and down in a tune Cho would swear he'd designed especially for crowd manipulation.

Deep in meditation, Cho didn't notice they'd switched speakers until a high pitched ringing sound delved into her ears. She looked up sharply at a fat woman dressed all in pink and speaking from the podium where Dumbledore had just been. Had she just interrupted _Dumbledore?!_

"…happy little faces looking back at me!" the woman crooned in a sickly sweet voice that made Cho's skin crawl. The pink lady clasped her hands around the folds in her fluffy cardigan and squeezed her face at the audience in what Cho could only assume was an attempt at a smile.

"I'm very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" The words stuck like glue in Cho's wind pipe and she struggled not to cough.

The woman continued speaking, and didn't stop. The fake, high voice reverberated throughout Cho's skull and her vision began to swim in the pink. But, no matter how much she wanted to, Cho could not take her eyes off of the woman who seemed positively delighted with her power of speech.

Her parents had mentioned a new professor would come from the ministry to monitor Hogwarts, she just could not believe _this _was the person the Ministry sent. There was nothing subtle about her.

Cho had expected a "crouching tiger", someone who would manipulate the scene without being noticed, only to spring out later and take total control. This woman had no intention of taking that approach. She was enjoying her newfound control way too much.

Cho didn't need legilimency to notice the many red flags the woman was sending off around the room. Even the faces of the other professors didn't hide their horror. If it weren't so nausea inducing, Cho knew she would be impressed by the woman's ability to patronize.

The students began fidgeting and whispering to each other halfway through the woman's long-winded speech.

"Merlin, and to think _she _teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm going to be sick!" Marietta hissed, holding her stomach and blanching dramatically.

"We're not going to learn a _thing_ this year. _Again_," Cora groaned in agreement, slouching deep into her chair and folding her arms in a pout, "Stupid Ministry officials."

"Yeah, who does this Umbridge bitch think she is, cutting off Dumbledore like that?" Isobel said with a scowl.

"_Excuse_ me," Cora snarled, glaring at Isobel and quickly covering her sister's ears.

"She's just such a bore. Look she's still talking, and no one's even listening," Marietta scoffed.

Sure enough, the Umbridge woman was still speaking as though she believed she had enraptured the audience. She continued on until scattered applause signified the end. Cho gaped at her as she waddled back to her seat on a set of pink high heels. The expression on her face read "just you wait" all over it.

Cho wondered briefly if the Dark Lord really had any direct control over Umbridge, and if so, what his goal was by sending her to Hogwarts.

"Merlin, Cho, you look like you've seen a ghost. It's just another wacked DADA professor," Cora whispered across the table as Dumbledore resumed his soothing welcome speech. Cho quickly lifted her mouth up into a grin at that and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Sure I have! There's a pretty nasty one right over there," she joked, jerking her thumb at the Slytherin table where the Bloody Baron was sure to be lurking. The girls smiled and rolled their eyes.

Remembering Slytherin, Cho looked around to catch Malfoy's reaction to Umbridge. No doubt his father had told him about her as well. Instead, she caught Potter's eyes on her and quickly pasted on her best shy smile at him. He quickly looked down and reached for his goblet.

_Ancestors help me,_ Cho thought. How was she supposed to get anywhere with him if he couldn't even look her in the eyes?

She looked back at her friends in time to notice them exchange a meaningful look between her and Potter. She chose to ignore it, but tried to make her expression dreamy. If his friends believed her to be crushing on Potter, maybe he'd be more confident.

Dumbledore dismissed the students and her friends all stood up at once.

"Come on, Cho, you look exhausted," Marietta commented, grabbing Cho's elbow and pulling her up. Apparently her dreamy look needed work.

As soon as they were standing an arm slung around each of their shoulders and Lochlan Bradley barged between them.

"Girls, girls, I'm sure we'll all be _really good_ friends!" he intoned, mocking Umbridge. Marietta laughed, throwing her head back and bringing a hand to her throat. Lochlan beamed at her.

"In your dreams, Loch," she said, recovering and making a feeble effort to toss him off as they walked out the door and headed for the stairs. Cho's attempt was much more successful. She took another side step away from him.

"That's the truth. He's not very quiet when he dreams," Rudy Chambers called from behind them, leading Cora by the hand. His eyes were crinkled in laughter at his best mate and fellow Chaser's antics.

Lochlan's face didn't show the slightest sign of embarrassment, even as Rudy closed his eyes, mocking him.

"Ooo, Mari-baby…"

"Ew, stop," Cora giggled, slapping her boyfriend on the shoulder, "I'm sure Lochlan has only the best intentions…" She gave Marietta a meaningful look to which she only wrinkled her nose.

"The best," Lochlan agreed, kneeling down in Marietta's path and conjuring a bouquet. She accepted it, laughing.

"You are such a pest," she said as she smelled the flowers, "You forgot the Aroma Charm."

"I'll add it," Cho said, imagining the lotus flower of Taiwan. She waved her hand in the Taichi lotus position over the flowers and smiled as the smell reached her. It must have reached the others too because they all stopped walking. She looked up at her friends who all looked back at her curiously.

"It's the lotus—" she started to explain, only to be interrupted by Marcus Belby.

"Did you just do wandless magic?" Cho stared hard at his double chin, trying to process how she had been so thoughtless. Maybe she _was _tired. After all, she'd only slept a few hours since coming back from Taiwan. The others were all waiting for her reply.

"I- no, I mean, yes… I guess," she stumbled. She quickly threw on a grin to soften it and continued up the stairs. The group slowly followed.

"I didn't know you could do that, Cho-sey!" Marietta exclaimed, holding her bouquet up to her nose.

"It's not much, I just practiced a lot. You know, in case I ever don't have my wand and I smell bad or something. Don't Muggle's have that perfume thing?" Cho replied with a shrug, unable to resist bringing up Marietta's Muggle background. The boys snorted while the girls squealed excitedly.

"I've never heard of a girl who smells bad before," Lochlan commented, scratching his head.

The rest of the way to Ravenclaw Tower, Cho tried her best to patiently answer her friends' questions and fabricate techniques for practicing wandless magic. By the time they reached the tower door, Cho was too worn out to even hear the riddle asked by the golden eagle knocker.

"What's up with Cho? She loves the riddles," Cho vaguely heard Rudy ask Cora as they piled into the common room. Cho added "_enjoy riddles_" to the list of things she had to pretend she still was.

"She's tired," Cora whispered back, "Anyway, I'm sure it's hard for her to be back, you know." The group settled into the couches by the fireplace, claiming the spot before the younger years came in. Cho watched them, torn whether or not to join.

She knew she had been relying much too heavily on the "tired" excuse. What would be her excuse tomorrow if she didn't do any better with acting normal? Hoping that a nice, long night sleep would help, she smiled at her friends and waved goodnight, heading up to her dorm.

* * *

Mornings worked well with Cho and basically all Ravenclaw students. The skylight tower brought in the sun as soon as it shone, waking them early. Except in the dead of winter, the Ravenclaw table was always the first filled in the morning.

Cho watched as the owls swooped into the Hall and braced herself for the anxious whispering sure to follow the _Daily Prophet_, but there was nothing disastrous in the news. _Of course not,_ she reminded herself, _the Dark Lord knows when to take the Crouching Tiger approach._

"Cho! Hello! Let me see your schedule!" Marietta yelled breathlessly in Cho's face before Professor Flitwick even released the schedule he was handing her. Marietta leaned over Cho's shoulder and read out loud, "Transfiguration, Double Charms, History of Magic, double Potions, and… what the—?"

Cho scanned to where she was looking and read, equally confused, _Independent Study: Defense Against the Dark Arts _under the slot for 8:30. At night.

"I have no idea," she muttered, but Marietta had long vanished to compare schedules with the other girls. Cho looked around the hall trying to find Flitwick to ask him about the odd class, but he was already gone. Oh, well, she could ask him after Charms.

By the time the bell rang, Cho was surprised Marietta still owned a functional voice box, but she proved it by keeping up a stream of chatter their entire way to Transfiguration. Cho made sure to join in with gasps of horror and laughter wherever necessary.

Transfiguration took all of Cho's concentration to perform with her wand. She had not touched it for most of the summer while she learned to channel her magic through herself. Now, she struggled to bypass the channeling part and leave it all to her wand.

Her first try failed when she transfigured her quill into an entire flock of birds.

_"Evanesco!"_ she managed to hiss out just before anyone turned around to see where all the squawking was coming from. In the process, however, she vanished her text book, set of quills, and ink.

She sighed, trying to remind herself to let her magic rest. Using a wand after learning wandless magic was like using a spoon to drink water. Magic was _meant _to be wandless. The Wizarding world had gone lazy ever since the invention of wands. Cho longed for the tingling feel of her magic channeling through her and vibrating in her hands.

She borrowed a quill and a piece of parchment from Marietta and pretended to take notes as McGonagall lectured for the rest of the class. Instead, she wrote a note to her mother asking for a new Transfiguration book and school supplies to be sent.

As soon as the class was dismissed she made her excuse to Marietta and rushed off towards the owlery to send the letter. On her way, she cut across the cold, stone courtyard straight through the falling mist.

Cho would never understand why anyone would ever choose to live in damp, gray England after growing up in Taiwan. And yet, her own parents had made that choice. Cursing them silently for their non-remarkable decision making skills, she rounded the corner back under shelter.

Her eyes met Potter's just as she was wiping the water drops off her face.

"Hello, Harry!" she said, trying out her best attempt at enthusiasm. Potter reddened, no doubt remembering when he was covered in slime on the train.

"Hi," he said, shifting awkwardly. Granger stood next to him, making weird motions at Weasley who stared at Cho resentfully. Ignoring it, Cho looked back at Potter.

"You got that stuff off, then?" she asked, trying to make him relax by smiling wider. He looked at his feet, then back at Cho, forcing on a grin of his own.

"Yeah. So did you… er… have a good summer?" he half asked, half choked. Cho watched amazed at how he could possibly have made it fifteen years into his life with so few social skills.

_Yeah, Harry, I had a blast of a summer right after you appeared with my boyfriend's dead body. Thanks for that by the way. _

Potter winced as though she had spoken her thought out loud. At least he realized how dumb the question was.

"Oh, it was all right, you know…" Cho murmured sweetly, looking away from him for a moment.

"Is that a Tornados badge?" Weasley randomly burst out, pointing his finger at Cho's robes where she had her pin for the Tutshill Tornados in support of their win yesterday.

"You don't support them, do you?" he demanded with a look skepticism. Suddenly Potter's social skills were no longer a mystery.

Cho ground her teeth. _No, I don't._ _I like wearing this for absolutely no reason. _

"Yeah, I do," she forced herself to reply calmly.

"Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?" he demanded saucily. Cho's eyes narrowed and she was so tempted to just reach out and…

"I've supported them since I was six," she said, not really trying to keep the edge from her voice anymore, "Anyway… see you, Harry."

It was too late to make it to the owlery now. Still fuming inwardly, she raced to Charms and slid into a seat next to Marietta and Cora.

"We'll wait for you in the hall," Marietta told Cho after class as she left their seat and headed towards Professor Flitwick's desk. He looked up as she approached and scrutinized her.

"Yes, Miss Chang?"

"On my schedule it says Independent Study for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Is that a mistake?" she asked, placing her schedule on his desk and pointing to the spot.

He frowned, looking affronted at the possibility of a mistake. A pair of glasses floated in front of his face as he glanced over the schedule.

"Oh, yes!" he said, relief washing away his frown, "That's not a mistake at all, Miss Chang! Hogwarts received your transcript from your summer defense school in Taiwan and decided the best way to help you advance your knowledge is to set up an independent study for you."

_What summer defense school? _Who came up with that one? And _why? _How was she expected to keep up both the family reunion and the summer defense school lie? Cho rubbed her forehead in annoyance, wishing someone would think to tell her these things.

"So, I'm just going to study on my own or what?" she asked, a little rudely.

"Oh no, not at all. I'm sure Professor Snape has plenty lined up for you," Flitwick responded. Cho blinked, too frozen to do anything else.

"Professor _Snape_?"

"Yes. He volunteered to be your instructor. Why else do you think it would say 'dungeons' here under location?" He turned the paper around so she could see where he was pointing.

Of course. The Dark Lord would want Snape to find out what she is capable of. It all made sense now.

Numbly, she nodded to Professor Flitwick, picked up her schedule, and headed for the door.

All she could think about was how Snape's silhouette had been among those that loomed above her in the green-tinted light of the stone room.

_Who murdered Cho Chang? It was Snape, in the dungeon, with a potion, _Cho thought darkly as she entered the cold, damp room at precisely 8:30 and saw the outline of the professor hunched over a smoking cauldron.

Her footsteps crashed sharply with the stone floor sending echoes bouncing off the walls.

Snape looked at her over his potion coolly, his frown deepening. Not intimidated, Cho glared right back as she clomped further into the room, right up to his desk.

Snape's eyes narrowed even further and his robes swished harshly as he stood. He looked down at her disdainfully. Cho lifted only her eyes as she stared back with an equal amount of contempt.

"Miss Chang," he finally acknowledged icily.

"Yes, we met two days ago. Do you remember?" Cho said sardonically, not willing to dance around the fact. She didn't have to play nice with the man. He knew her as Disaster.

"I do," he answered simply. She probably imagined it, but… did Snape _wince?_

He turned on his heel and walked around the desk and continued until he was within dueling distance of Cho.

"I trust you understand why I was compelled to be your instructor?" Snape asked, sounding bored. Cho shrugged her shoulder.

"The Dark Lord wants you to test me," she answered, before adding in a dead voice, "So test me."

Snape's lip curled and he drew his wand. Immediately, Cho crouched down and pulled her hands in towards her stomach, drawing on her magic. Snape only sneered at her pose.

"The Dark Lord was impressed with your… _cultish _magic," he spoke through his nose, "but he believes you can do better if you use a more _civilized _approach. Draw your wand."

Cho's glare intensified and she gritted her teeth at the insult. Her magic flamed inside her and she wanted nothing more than to use it to knock Snape off his feet.

With all her might, she forced herself not to attack first, but abide by Shifu's advice: _entice the tiger from the mountain. _Relaxing her left hand, she beckoned Snape to begin with a patronizing smile.

At once, he stepped forward and swiped his wand, sending a spell zipping at her.

Cho ducked her head slightly, sending the spell crashing against the far wall. She raised a single eyebrow at the professor.

Snape's face twitched with rage at her patronizing and he flicked his wand, shooting a beam of red at her, followed rapidly by a silver jet of light.

She lept to the side and pushed her hands forward in his direction, sending a gold stream as wide as her torso at him. An ancient Chinese _confundus_ charm.

Cho watched amused as he struggled to block it, being too wide for him to simply sidestep gracefully. As soon as he was in the clear, however, another red curse flew directly at her. She was barely able to drop low enough to avoid it.

With one hand poised on the ground, she looked up at Snape through her bangs. Her magic flowed madly inside her like rapids in a river. She spun away from another attack before throwing her own full force at him. The ancient form of the full body bind curse.

The blackness sped towards Snape and branched off into two sections, twisting around his body intricately.

Cho's eyes turned black as coal as she watched her spell grow and expand. Snape thrashed about, trying to break free of it while casting various protection charms. Panic was visible in his eyes as the spell forced him off his feet and he fell backwards.

Cho took her time approaching him where he lay, entrapped in her spell. She looked down at him, relishing in the fact that it was now _her _looming over _him _in a stone room.

Cho cancelled the spell with a wave of her arms, releasing him. The blackness fell to the ground and disappeared like shadows.

"I win," she said. Adrenaline was cursing through her, making her hair feel as though it were standing on end. She couldn't deny it, having time with Snape would be a much needed break from the tedium of playing nice.

Snape eyed her cautiously.

"Hm," he grunted, as if unaffected either way. He rose to his feet and strode back to his desk. Focusing once again on his potion, he vaguely motioned for her to take a seat in a chair he conjured across from him.

Cho sat stiffly, eyeing the professor as he sprinkled powder into the potion causing it to hiss.

"Contrary to what you believe, the Dark Lord is not interested in me 'testing' you, as you put it. We were both performing thorough Legilimency on you that night, something your _Asian magic_ didn't seem to recognize. We knew exactly the extent of your power."

He met her eyes across the smoke rising from the cauldron as he stirred the potion.

"In fact, we were impressed with your power of restraint. You endured the Cruciatus and did not fight back," Snape continued, watching her reaction closely. Cho gave none, instead turning her features into stone.

"I will never attack the Dark Lord," Cho replied steadily, knowing when to declare loyalty, "Are you using Legilimency on me now?"

"Yes," Snape said slowly, still watching her.

"Good." Cho smiled venomously, carefully remembering Snape trapped in her spell and knocked to the floor. He looked back at his potion quickly, anger flaring across his face.

"The Dark Lord believes you are capable of more," here he paused for dramatic effect, "with a _wand._ I am here to make sure you… progress in that."

Cho shook her head once.

"My magic is _ancient_. It began _long_ before the invention of wands and was passed down through my bloodline since. It does not work with modern devices," Cho responded, carefully avoiding Snape's eyes. She did not want him reading her fear.

Using a wand with her power would be breaking millennia of tradition and would be a desecration of her ancestor's power that they entrusted to her. It would no doubt be a betrayal to her ancestry. A betrayal that could be punishable. She could not risk losing her power for a pathetic _tool_.

"It is the Dark Lord's _wish_," Snape said, enunciating the _sh_ sound contemptuously slow. Read: command.

Cho's chest tightened and her eyes squeezed shut.

"A wand will limit my power," Cho began again, "You saw how wide I cast. With a wand it would just be thin streaks. You can explain this to the Dark Lord." Cho hoped she didn't sound as desperate as she felt.

Snape scoffed.

"A wand will _amplify_ your power. It will concentrate it. Your precious _ancient_ magic is not without room for improvement."

Cho felt her hands shaking under the desk and quickly clasped them together.

"Is that all, then?" she asked after a minute of silence as Snape continuously stirred the potion which was beginning to smell like sulfur. He looked up at her with a sneer.

"For now," he said dismissing her. She quickly stood up and strode rapidly for the door.

"Miss Chang," he called. Cho stopped, but did not look around.

"Your assignment is to practice using your wand _and _your Asian magic in combination."

She continued walking through the door. She conjured a blast of air to slam the heavy stone door as hard as possible.

Cho had no choice but to admit defeat.


End file.
